Focused research on the global home networks ecosystem and connectivity within the home for both service provider and retail market segments. Covers cable, DSL, FTTH, and Fixed LTE consumer premise equipment (CPE), with regional and country level data, as well as Wi-Fi, voice, and different access technologies.

The Channel Line-up & Availability Database provides continuously updated information on the availability and distribution of pay TV and free to air channels across traditional broadcast and online platforms.

Detailed information on channel revenue and program expenditure. Revenue data includes splits for carriage revenue, direct to consumer subscriptions and advertising. Programming data covers spend on original content, acquisitions and sport.

CGR and Majid Al Futtaim’s VOX Cinemas have announced a partnership to bring ICE, the Premium Large Format offering by CGR, to cinemas in the Middle East. The first three territories where ICE will be available will be Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates. Each ICE room has been reported to require €1M investment.

OSN, the Dubai-based pay TV operator, has officially launched a new TV service in Saudi Arabia and a number of Gulf countries. The new service, called El Farq, which means “The Difference” in Arabic, is a flexible entertainment package that does not tie up the subscriber with a long-term contract. El Farq offers monthly renewal options, precisely like the main OTT subscription services all around the globe.
OSN claims El Farq will provide its subscribers in Saudi Arabia with value for money for several main reasons. First, because of its content offering which includes all six premium OSN film channels, out of a total of 56 channels for the whole package. Second because the price of 159 Saudi riyals ($43) per month is the cheapest price ever offered for an OSN high-tier package. Finally, OSN claims El Farq provides the subscriber with the option of a simple online purchase process and guarantees the latest children’s, lifestyle, movies and TV series programming for the whole family.
Separately, OSN is shutting off most of its sports channels in an effort to better control programming costs. The operator will retain only the its cricket-programming channels OSN Sports Cricket HD and its bouquet of TEN Sports channels. OSN plans to replace this content with additional lifestyle content tailored for a female audience.

Channels and Programming Intelligence has introduced a new methodology to estimate revenues from subscription on traditional platforms. The new approach, applied to an initial group of 22 countries will significantly increase the number of groups and operators covered from 38 to 136. The new groups covered from today include all major pay TV platforms, whether or not they operate their own channels.

The IHS Markit Set-top Box Intelligence vendor relationships database contains a record of which Set-top Box vendors are currently working with which pay TV operators, on a by-operator basis, for over 80 countries and over 500 operations.

Liberty Global has reached an agreement to sell its Central and Eastern European DTH (direct-to-home) TV services to international pay TV operator M7 Group. The deal, valued at €180 million ($206 million), covers the UPC Direct service in Hungary, the freeSAT brand in Czech Republic and Slovakia, and FocusSat in Romania. The transaction is subject to regulatory approval, which is expected in the first half of 2019.
The proposed deal follows Liberty Global’s sale of key cable TV assets in Germany and Central and Eastern Europe to Vodafone in May 2018, and the divestment of its Austrian unit to T-Mobile in July 2018. The transaction provides further signs of Liberty Global retreating from Europe and doubling down on the markets where it has scale.